


My Universe in Your Eyes

by NotEvryoneNotYou



Category: The L Word (TV 2004), Tibette - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:22:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26555032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvryoneNotYou/pseuds/NotEvryoneNotYou
Summary: Basically, this is a one shot capturing a Bette and Tina fight and make up.
Relationships: Bette and Tina - Relationship, Tibette - Relationship
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	My Universe in Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot was inspired by Tibette's fight in s4 over Angelica's schooling. 
> 
> "So you want Angelica to drive two hours every morning to she can go to school with Diane King's kids?"
> 
> "No, I want Angelica to go to the best school. The BEST school, period"
> 
> "you know what? fuck it, I dont know why I even bothered, its pretty clear you made this decision without me. You know what, for the record, I am not gonna let your psycho dysfunction stress on our kid before she's three years old. its crayons and playdoh for fucks sakes!"
> 
> It pained me knowing that that exchange could've ending in perfect make up sex. So this is my attempt at capturing a Tibette make up sex session. Hopefully I was able to do their chemistry some justice in this one shot You'll be the judge!
> 
> Also, this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction. Hopefully this thing was at least readable.

Bette Porter was not having a good day, in fact, she was having a rather disastrous day. Her day had started off with a major grant rejection from the Spencer Foundation, one she had spent countless hours putting together. The rejection was followed by a tense meeting with the _New Generation of Artists_ _fellowship_ selection board, where she found herself practically begging her colleagues to award the fellowship to an extremely talented African American artist. Bette had fought tooth and nail to award the fellowship to the student because she had no doubt the prestigious award would have a huge impact, not only on his career, but in the art world as a whole.

The fellowship not only provided funding for his work, but also came with the commitment to exhibit Michael’s work at some of the most prestigious art exhibitions open to up and coming artists. The board recognized his talent, no doubt, but they were concerned with the focus of his work. If radical work was already hard for most people to digest and fund, work that happened to critique the fellowship selection board indirectly would be nearly impossible to fund. Michael’s work was a critique to progressive wokeness, and the fellowship selection board was a room full of progressive-well-meaning individuals, who by default, practiced progressive “wokeness”.

Voices like Michale, Bette understood, were exactly what the art world needed because these voices had the potential to challenge the status quo.

Bette knew exactly what she was going up against, she herself had played the devil’s advocate with one of Jody’s student, but since then she had become more aware and completely committed about protecting and even promoting radical and critical art work.

Bette, more than anyone in that room, understood the power of art and knew Michael’s art would push the art world into an introspection about wokeness as a performative act for social capital. An act that rarely led to real action towards dismantling the systems of oppression responsible for the inequalities progressive voices decry. Unfortunately, for Bette, by the end of that meeting it was clear the majority of the board would vote no on awarding Michael the prestigious fellowship.

Now she found herself on the phone with her daughter’s school asking her to show up to a parent-teacher meeting to discuss Angelica’s disengagement in class, for the second time in the span of a month. Apparently, Angie was having a hard time connecting with her new teacher, and as a result she was having a hard time engaging in class. Bette and Tina had discussed the situation the first time they got called for a meeting, and they had both decided to support the teacher and help Angie adjust to the new change.

Given that Bette worked within a stable schedule, she was in charge of picking Angie up from school and to take her to her after school activities. At seven years old Angie had a full schedule. Art group, gymnastics, and music lessons filled her afterschool time. Tina did her best at balancing Angie’s schedule in a way that would not be too overwhelming and was always careful about placing any unrealistic expectations on her young child. Still, managing and balancing Bette’s overachieving tendencies was always a challenge.

Unfortunately on this day Tina had not been able to leave the set to make it to the meeting, so Bette was on her own.

Bette walked down the long corridor towards Angie’s classroom. She wore a white short-sleeve collar shirt tucked under navy blue waist belted skinny pants, perfectly matched with gold ankle-strap high heel sandals. There were a few children playing while still waiting for their parents, but the school still felt uncomfortably empty. Angie was waiting outside the classroom sitting on a bench wearing her backpack and swinging her feet back and forth.

“Hi, sweetie. I missed you!”

Bette said as she bent down and gently placed a kiss on Angelica’s forehand.

“I missed you mama.” Angie replied as she wrapped her arms around Bette’s neck.

“Did you have a good day?” Angie shrugged and looked away disinterested.

“Ok.“ Bette sighed. “mommy has to chat with your teacher for a minute. You wait for me right here, alright? Mama B will be right out.”

Angie nodded and Bette turned to walk into the classroom.

Mrs. Bonnet sat on her desk working on her computer when Bette walked in.

“mmhhmmm…” Bette cleared her throat in an attempt to make her presence known.

“Oh, Mrs. Porter, have you been waiting for a while? I’m sorry, I have a tendency to disappear into my own little world when I’m working on the end-of-the-day reports. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

Bette offered a shy smile “I only just walked in.”

“Oh, great.” Mrs. Bonnet said with relief.

“So, Mrs. Porter, I’m sure you’re very busy so I’ll just get to the point.”

“Please.” Bette nodded in agreement.

“As you know, this is the second time we’ve called you to talk about Angie’s disengagement in class. First, I want to thank you and Mrs. Kennard for all the work you have done with Angie since our last meeting. She’s been improving and her engagement in class has improved, but we think we can do more for Angie. Today I wanted to talk to you about potentially getting Angie some after school help with her Math.”

Bette released the breath she had been holding in a big sigh and gestured to fix her hair.

Mrs. Bonnet continued, “Our assessment team thinks Angie could really benefit from two months of after school help.”

Bette’s face looked stoic, but focused. 

“We work with an after-school program that tailors their curriculum to our student’s needs. The program seems to be really effective with our students, specially our students of color.”

Bette’s face demeanor changed. Her face was red in anger and her shoulders looked tense. This should’ve been Bette’s cue to take a deep breath to calm herself down, but instead she let her emotions take the best of her and snapped.

“you think my child is having problems learning Math because she’s a student of “color”? Do you even know what you’re implying here?” Bette was flabbergasted.

Mrs. Bonnet taken aback responded, “Mrs. Porter, I apologize if my suggestion came off as racially biased. I assure you, me and the assessment team have had multiple meetings about possible interventions, and we’ve all agreed that this after school program could work well for Angie. Our students of color seem to respond particularly well to their teaching approach. Angie has been talking about- ”

“My daughter is just as capable as the rest of the kids in this school and in this classroom. Maybe if you made an effort to connect with my daughter on a personal level she would have an easier time learning from you. But I digress. Let’s focus on what is wrong with _my_ daughter.” Bette snarled.

Mrs. Bonnet was speechless, and her face showed her astonishment.

As Bette walked towards the door she added, “I will talk to my wife and we’ll make a decision about what’s best for our child. Perhaps a school that actually values our child might be a better fit for her.”

Bette walked out of the classroom to find Angie with a worried face. “Everything’s ok sweetie.” Bette smiled fondly at Angie as she gently held her chin to meet Angie’s eyes. “What do you say we go back to Mommy’s office and spend the rest of the day together instead of taking you to study group?” Angie smiled and nodded excited and then grabbed Bette’s hand to pull her towards the exit.

Angie and Bette spent about two hours in Bette’s office before it was time to pick up dinner and head home to meet mama T. Unfortunately, Bette didn’t have time to process the exchange she had with Mrs. Bonnet earlier in the day. She spent most of her afternoon helping Angie with her homework and finishing up a few things she needed for her morning meetings. Bette’s coping mechanism, if you could even call it that, was to drown herself in work.

By the time they got home, Bette had forgotten all about the uncomfortable exchanged with Mrs. Bonnet.

“Mommy!” Angie raced down to hug Mama T, who was pulling down plates and silverware to set up the table for dinner.

Tina placed the plates on the counter and turned to lift Angie in her arms. “My sweet baby! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever! Hug me.” Tina groaned as she peppered Angie’s face with kisses.

“I AM hugging you!” Angie giggled.

“Yeah, but hug me like this!” Tina squeezed Angie and she burst in a fit of laughter. 

Bette watched Tina and Angie’s exchange fondly from the other side of the kitchen. 

The moment was shortly lived when Angie squirmed asking to be put down and Tina kissed Angie’s hair one last time before putting her down. “Sweetie, go wash your hands so we can eat dinner.”

“Ok, mama.” Angie replied and then ran to the restroom.

Tina then turned to greet Bette who had made her way to them expecting her turn with Tina.

“Hi” Bette leaned in to kiss Tina softly on the lips.

“Hi.” Tina smiled.

“I brought Italian food for dinner. I hope you’re in the mood for it.”

Tina nodded and gestured with her hands, “yeah, it should be fine.”

And then Bette moved to take the food out of the bags.

“how was your day?” Bette asked casually.

Tina gave Bette a knowing nod.

“What?” Bette asked smiling confused.

“Nothing. We can talk about it later.”

Angie appeared from the corner of the Kitchen. “Mama, my hands are clean!”

“Alright, lets eat!” Tina gestured towards the table.

After dinner Tina took Angie out to ride her bike around the neighborhood while Bette stayed home answering a few emails she didn’t get to while at the office. When Tina and Angie got back, it was Bette’s turn to help Angie prepare her backpack for school and to get her ready for bed, while Tina tended to last minute emails and prepared for work the next morning.

When Angie was ready to be tucked in bed, the three of them laid in bed to read a bedtime story. It was a nightly routine that the three of them loved. Lying in bed after a long day, cuddling the stress away.

When Angie finally fell asleep Bette and Tina headed to the living room to have their check-in. A daily routine as well. Both Bette and Tina were committed to make time every day to share their day with each other, to be present in each other’s lives, even if they were both crazy busy most days. This was a routine that had helped them stay connected and in touch with each other’s needs. The way they made sure their communication channels stayed open.

Bette sat in their couch watching as Tina packed her laptop bag, waitibg for her to finish so they could spend some time together before bed. 

Tina sighed as she zipped the last zipper in her laptop bag and then placed the bag on the table. “Never a dull moment.”

“is everything ok on set?” Bette asked concerned

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine.” Tina said dismissively.

Bette looked at Tina giving her a knowingly nod, “Then what is it?”

Tina rolled her eyes annoyed with Bette, and then debated for a few seconds what her answer should be.

“Do you want to tell me why I received a phone call from Mrs. Bonnet apologizing profusely about a “misunderstanding” during your meeting with her?”

“She called you?!” Bette asked surprised.

“Bette, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all.” Tina added annoyed.

“I don’t understand why she would call YOU.” Bette added confused and astonished. “Listen Tina, Mrs. Bonnet was out of line today and I had a strong reaction to her, that’s all. She basically suggested Angie needs help because she’s black, Tina. Would she have done the same thing if our daughter was white? She hasn’t even made an effort to get to know our daughter. What did she expect?! But to put the responsibility solely on our daughter?! That’s Ridiculous.”

Tina ran her hand through her hair and then took a deep breath attempting to calm herself down before answering. “Bette, this is so not ok. Mrs. Bonnet is not another one of your employees. You can’t treat her like this. Our relationship with her is a partnership. We work with her, and she works with us.”

“I think she works on her own and makes assumptions about our daughter.” Bette added sarcastically.

“Bette, she’s just trying to do her job. Why do you insist on making her job harder than it needs to be? It not only makes it harder for her, but it also makes it harder for Angelica. Do you really think Angelica doesn’t notice what’s going on?”

Tina’s words hit her like a ton of bricks, and suddenly Bette was speechless. Here she was, full-on mama bear mode, trying to protect her child while forgetting to check whether her approach could be hurting her child more than helping her. This was a problem Bette had been working on for a while, and had been doing so well. Which only made her even more frustrated in this moment. Too many loses for one day. This one couldn’t be yet another one, could it?

Bette closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but still when her words came out, they came flailing, “You know what Tina, it would be really nice if you were on my side for once. That you would try to understand what is like to walk in my shoes for one day. Maybe then you would give me a break.”

Bette was pulling as straws here, because her words weren’t really directed at Tina. If she was being honest those words were directed at the cruel, cruel universe which had shaken up her life enough for one day.

Tina looked at Bette incredulous before she turned away and began massaging her jaw clearly upset.

“That’s nice Bette. That’s really nice.” Tina abruptly got off the couch and headed towards the restroom.

“Tina, I’m not say that I-” Bette tried to re-engage with no avail.

As silence filled the room, Bette sat holding her chin in her hands. Her elbows resting on her thigs.

“Oh Jesus. What am I doing?” she closed her eyes and nodded in disbelief. “WHAT am I doing?” she sighed.

The salience was sobering and as Bette sat alone in the living room, her day came crashing down on her. She remembered the uncertainty and disappointment she felt when she had found out the grant application had been rejected. She remembered how helpless she had felt when the board had voted against awarding the fellowship to Michael. She felt anger wash over her as she remembered Mrs. Bonnet suggesting after school help for Angie. All of these experiences now made her feel her world spinning out of control and her reaction to Tina, as she understood, was a failed attempt at hanging on to some stability.

The fact that she was a person of color and the mom of a dark skinned child complicated all these further, because she could never tell when things happened to her because of her racial background or simply because life was throwing lemons at her. Microaggressions abound in her life, she reasoned perhaps she had misinterpreted Mrs. Bonnett’s suggestion that Angelica would benefit from after school help. She reasoned the two big incidents earlier in the day, one completely due to Michael’s racial background, might have colored her perception of Mrs. Bonnett suggestion.

In the rest room Tina brushed her teeth as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her pale reflection prompting her to reflect deeper about what had just happened. She wondered whether she had been too hard on Bette. Whether Bette had grounds to feel the way she did. She wondered whether she could be more understanding. And she thought about Angie. Whether she had been doing enough to protect her. Whether her daughter felt understood by her. At the end of her long reflection she felt at peace with herself, but thought it was probably best that she asked Bette about specific ways in which she could be more understanding. Ways in which she could be more emotionally attuned to her and Angie.

Tina walked back into the living room to find Bette still sitting with her head in her hands. She then made her way to sit next to her, but with a fair distance between them and still avoiding eye contact.

They sat in salience for a while longer before Bette explained herself. “I had a really rough day. I know that doesn’t excuse my behavior, but it does help explain it.”

They were both still visibly hurt.

Tina nodded accepting her explanation.

“I had a rough day too.” Tina confessed “William almost fired me.”

Bette snapped her head towards Tina. “What?! What for?”

“He didn’t like that I gave Brent an earful.”

“That sexist bastard.” Bette snarled.

“Yeah well, I have to kiss his ass for two more weeks.” Tina added annoyed as she stood up to look through some paperwork on the desk nearby.

“You’ll get through it, T.” Bette stared as Tina looked through papers.

Tina stopped for a second to throw a sympathetic and pained look towards Bette, acknowledging Bette’s attempt at making up. Bette was acknowledging she had been wrong and was not making excuses about her behavior.

Tina made her way towards Bette who was still sitting on the couch and once she was standing in front of Bette she reached down to hold Bette’s face between her hands and lift her gaze towards her.

“I love you.” Tina said as they locked eyes and she then bent down to kiss Bette softly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to our meeting with Mrs. Bonnett.” Tina added almost whispering as she cleared Bette’s hair from her face and tucked strands of hair behind Bette’s ears.

“I’m sorry I can’t be trusted not to fuck up a simple parent-teacher meeting.” Bette sighed as her eyes watered.

Tina continued to play with Bette’s hair absentmindedly as she thought of a response to what Bette had just said. On the one hand her instinct was to reassure Bette she was not a fuck up and that things would be ok, but on the other hand she knew Bette had to take full responsibility for how things had gone with Mrs. Bonnett. She knew from past experience that soothing Bette and letting her off the hook did no one any good. Bette had to figure out how to make right what she got wrong, because long gone were the days when Tina used to sweep up her mess.   
  
“How do you plan to fix it?” Tina asked still half whispering. Her face looked serious and focused on the repetitive motions her hands made as she played with Bette’s hair.   
  
  
Bette grabbed onto Tina’s wrists to stop Tina’s hands from moving so that she could lock eyes with her.  
  
“I can think of a few ways.” Bette answered as a mischievous smirk took over her lips.  
  
The sudden change in tone and the suggestive nature of Bette’s response took Tina by surprise.  
  
“Whoa-” Tina’s face lit up in amazement and a small chuckle escaped her open mouth.   
  
“You know that’s not what I meant, but nice try.” Tina finally managed to say.  
  
“Are you sure?” Bette asked as she wrapped her arms around Tina’s waist and pulled her close to her own body knocking Tina’s knees on the couch, making her fall on top of her.   
  
Tina hanged onto Bette’s shoulders as she fell and once she landed on top of Bette, she moved to grab her face and kissed her hard.   
  
Bette moaned and wrinkled her face as she felt her lips bruise from the force in Tina’s kiss.   
  
Tina released Bette’s lips with a sigh that carried some of the tension her body had been holding inside from the tense exchange just a few minutes earlier. She then rested her forehead on Bette’s and closed her eyes as she felt her body tremble with tension coming all at once demanding to be let out.  
  
Bette felt Tina’s body tremble just a little and took it as her cue to take over because she wasn’t just in the mood to fuck Tina, she wanted to make love her.  
  
She felt Tina’s heart race and then heard her breathing change before she brought them both to a sitting position and then reached behind Tina’s neck to undue the only button in Tina’s satin blouse.  
  
Bette took her time unbuttoning and then taking Tina’s blouse off on purpose. She then inhaled Tina’s scent on her neck. She smelled the faint smell of her favorite perfume on Tina’s skin mixed with Tina’s own unique scent. A scent she could pick up anywhere in the world. She purposefully tested Tina’s as she lowered their pace.   
  
Bette held Tina firm with one arm as she nibbled and caressed Tina’s neck and then her breast as she moved down towards Tina’s stomach.  
  
Tina sat on Bette’s lap allowing Bette to roam her body with her hands and then with her mouth. Moaning when Bette nibble on her nipples still covered by her bra, and when Bette circled her tongue around her belly button.   
  
Tina reached to undo her pants anticipating where Bette was going. She arched her back and moaned as Bette’s tongue traveled below the waistline of her underwear, and then whimpered when she couldn’t feel the warmth of Bette’s tongue on her body any more.  
  
  
Bette pushed Tina gently off her lap to stand and then stood up next to her. She then took Tina by her neck and kissed her thoroughly. She entered Tina’s mouth with her tongue and then nibbled on Tina’s bottom lip gently before breaking the kiss to make eye contact.   
  
“I wanna make love to you in our bed.” Bette muttered as she looked at Tina with hooded eyes and saw Tina’s eyes matching her own.  
  
Tina gave Bette a knowing nod and smiled as she reached to grab her hand to lead them to their room.  
  
When they walked inside the room Tina let go of Bette’s hand and turned around to help Bette out of her clothes. She helped Bette unbutton her collar shirt first and then then as Bette pulled her arms out of the shirt, Tina worked on the button and zipper of her pants. She reached for Bette’s back where she found the straps of her bra and broke Bette’s breasts free from their laced prison.  
  
When Bette felt her breast free she reached for the straps on her shoulders and pulled the bra off her body as Tina waited expectedly to see Bette’s breasts in their full glory.  
  
When Bette’s breasts were finally in full display Tina took both of her hands and filled them with Bette’s breasts. Massaging them at first, and then running her hands up and down to feel Bette’s nipples rubbing against the palm of her hands.   
  
Bette moaned in pleasure and then reached to pull Tina by the neck to bring their lips together. They kissed frantically and then sloppily as they both struggled to lead the kiss.  
  
When they broke from the kiss Tina reached for Bette’s pants and in one sweeping motion pulled down both Bette’s pants and laced underwear.   
  
Bette stepped out of her pants and then was pushed onto the bed. Bette landed on her back with her legs hanging off the bed.  
  
“Spread your legs.” Tina muttered as she nudged Bette’s legs to open.   
  
Bette spread her legs and then gasped in anticipation as Tina get on her knees between her legs.   
  
Tina took in the sight before her for a couple of seconds before muttering, “you’re so wet.”  
  
Bette whimpered and brought her hand to her mouth to muffle the sounds that would inevitably come from her mouth once Tina’s lips made contact with her nub.  
  
Tina held onto Bette’s thighs as she placed small kisses to Bette’s opening making her moan and whimper.  
  
“T-ina.” Bette managed to let out as she felt the tip of Tina’s tongue run up and down her slit.

Over the years Bette had learned to give up control in the bedroom, but even then being so completely under Tina’s control felt so foreign. 

Bette got on her elbows attempting to get up when she was stopped on her tracks.  
  
“Don’t- stay right there.” Tina demanded as she placed her hand on Bette’s stomach holding her still.   
  
“Watch me from there.” Tina suggested when she saw Bette would get a great view from where she was sitting up on her elbows.  
  
Bette smiled failing to hide her panic and curiosity. Over the years Tina had gotten bolder and bolder in the bedroom but this was a whole new level of boldness.   
  
Bette did as told and watched as Tina buried the tip of her tongue into her folds just deep enough to feel her clit, and then watched as Tina’s tongue wiggle feeling for her clit.   
  
Bette’s head snapped back and her eyes scrunched shut in pleasure as she felt Tina’s tongue make contact with her bud.  
  
Tina continued to run her tongue on Bette’s outer lips and the stopped to look up and to see if Bette was watching her.   
  
Tina watched as Bette’s head hung between her shoulders and then saw her come back to earth when she realized Tina’s warm mouth was not coming back.   
  
Their hooded eyes locked then for what seemed like a whole eternity, for Bette, as she was aching to feel Tina’s mouth on her again.   
  
“you taste so good.” Tina finally muttered and then turned her gaze back down to the place Bette needed her to be.   
  
Bette watched as Tina dipped the tip of her tongue into her again, this time moving down her folds and then coming back to her clit.  
  
When Tina pulled out a second later, her bruised lips red from their frantic kissing, glistened with Bette’s wetness.   
  
Bette Porter had seen countless pieces of art in her life time, but none of them as beautiful as Tina when aroused. As she watched Tina’s parted lips glistening with her wetness, all Bette could think about was not wanting to ever forget the image before her.  
  
“Come here. I wanna make love to you.” Bette said as she pulled Tina by her wrist.  
  
Tina climbed up to lay on top of Bette and when their faces met Bette pulled Tina into an opened mouth kiss tasting herself in Tina’s mouth.  
  
Their tongues danced until Tina pushed her tongue into Bette’s mouth. Bette then wrapped her lips around Tina’s tongue and sucked on it lightly.   
  
Tina moaned at the feeling and Bette felt the vibrations from Tina’s moan on her lips first and then between her legs.   
  
Bette could feel her entrance tightening and starting to contract and knew she didn’t have long before she would climax.   
  
Bette flipped Tina on her back and then mounted Tina’s thigh. Tina responded by positioned her thigh at the height she knew worked best for Bette and then tightened her thighs around Bette’s thigh.   
  
Bette rubbed her folds up and down Tina’s thigh, as she rubbed Tina’s folds with her thigh. They quickly settled into a rhythm that worked perfectly for both as they kissed frantically and passionately.  
  
Not too long after settling into a rhythm Bette’s body began to tremble with pleasure and Tina’s body followed unavoidably right after.   
  
Bette moaned into Tina’s mouth as spasms overtook her body, sending Tina further into her own climax. Tina heled onto Bette’s face kissing and sucking her bottom lip as her nob throbbed in pleasure.  
  
They frantic kissing turned into slow kissing, still breathing hard as they rode off the waves from their orgasms.

When their bodies had mostly recovered Bette lower her body to lay on top Tina, her head resting on Tina’s chest between Tina’s neck.

With the tension of the day completely out of her body, Bette suddenly felt a clearer mindset to resolve the unresolved matter. Bette knew she owed Tina a full apology for what had transpired with Mrs. Bonnet, and she needed to reassure Tina that she understood why she had reacted to irrationally.

“T.” Bette asked tentatively.

“mmhmm.” Tina hummed in response.

“I didn’t get the grant from the Spencer foundation and I couldn’t get Michael the fellowship he so much deserved.”

“oh no. I’m so sorry baby. You worked so hard on the Spencer grant and I know how passionate and excited you were about Michael getting the fellowship.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Bette sighed.

Tina played with Bette hair soothing her.

“I think this is why I had such a strong reaction to Mrs. Bonnet. I know it doesn’t excuse my horrible behavior towards Mrs. Bonnet, or how I reacted to you confronting me. I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the best of me.”

Tina sighed, “It doesn’t excuse your behavior, but I understand.” And then kissed Bette’s head.

“It doesn’t excuse me fucking up with Angie. It was wrong. I’m going to apologize to Mrs. Bonnet personally tomorrow and I should probably also have a chat with Angie about this.”

“I think you should. You should probably also talk to your daughter about her feelings more often. I know it’s hard for you, but Angie is more than capable of telling you how she’s feeling if you just ask her. The reason why Mrs. Bonnet suggested Angie go the after school program tailored for students of color is because Angie opened up to her and shared with her that she misses Kit. She told Mrs. Bonnet that her auntie Kit was her best friend in the whole world because she gets her.”   
  
Tina felt a tear fall from Bette’s eyes onto her chest and then held Bette in a tight hug.

“Mrs. Bonnet had asked me before if Angie had any role models that were dark skinned like her and I mentioned Kit, so now that Kit has been on location for a few months to record her new album, I agreed with Mrs. Bonnet that maybe Angie needed more dark skin role models.” Tina added as she continued to hold Bette tight.

“I feel horrible, I had no idea. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Bette whispered as tears fell down her face and onto Tina’s chest.

“you’ve gotten so much better at being present, and at paying attention to what’s happening around you, so I understand this might just be a slip up. Today was tough.” Tina instinctively, soothed Bette with her words.

In the past Tina would have left it there, she would not have brought up the way Bette had hurt her, she would just let it go. But she had learned that addressing the way Bette made her feel sometimes had to be done too, for the sake of their communication channels to stay open. Honesty, no matter how painful it could be sometimes, was their best policy. 

The room drowned in silence for a long moment.

“Bette?” Tina whispered.

“yeah?” Bette answered, her voice barely audible.

“I’ll never know what is like to experience the world the way you and Angie do, but you should know I’m always on your side. No matter what, I’m ALWAYS on your side.” Tina sealed her reassurance with a kissing to Bette’s forehead.

Bette signed disappointed in herself.

“I’m sorry for being such a dickhead. I said that in pain and anger. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Bette then moved to pepper kisses all over Tina’s chest, her neck, and finally landed on her lips placing a sweet gentle kiss. Bette pulled away from the kiss and looked down at Tina as she caressed her hair. They locked and Bette could see her entire life, no, scratch that, Bette could see her entire universe in Tina's eyes. The way Bette made love to her and the way she looked at her was all Tina needed to be reassured and reminded why Bette was the love of her life. Bette didn’t just love her, she adored her. Bette literally worshiped the ground she walked on, just like she worshiped the ground Bette walked on. No matter how tough life could get sometimes, and no matter their differences, they both could trust that the love they have for each other was worth working through all the difficult situations that would no doubt always arise in their very hectic lives. They both truly believed and were committed to the idea that a perfect marriage is simply two unperfect individuals refusing to give up on each other.

“I love you.” Bette whispered finally breaking away from the trance that it was looking at Tina in adoration right after making love to her. “I love you so much sometimes I think my chest might burst open from how much I love you.”

Tina knew this to be true because she herself experienced the same ache in her chest whenever they made love, and reconnected physically and emotionally. It was a beautiful feeling she had never felt with anyone else, and knew herself to be very luck to continue to experience feeling so close to someone emotionally and physically even after so many years of being together.

“You’re my whole world.” Tina replied and then kissed Bette again softly on her lips.

Bette smiled fondly at Tina and then moved to lay her head on her chest. Tina held Bette as they both closed their eyes finally allowing sleep to take over.


End file.
